Introduction : social minds, mental cultures : weaving together cognition and culture in the study of religion / William W. McCorkle Jr and Dimitris Xygalatas
Explanatory pluralism and the cognitive science of religion : why scholars in religious studies should stop worrying about reductionism / Robert McCauley
Early cognitive theorists of religion : Robin Horton and his predecessors / Stewart Guthrie
The opium or the aphrodisiac of the people? : Darwinizing Marx on religion / Jason Slone
Immortality, creation and regulation : updating Durkheim's theory of the sacred / Harvey Whitehouse
Non-ordinary powers : charisma, special affordances and the study of religion / Ann Taves
Malinowski's magic and Skinner's superstition : reconciling explanations of magical practices / Konrad Talmont-Kaminski
Towards an evolutionary cognitive science of mental cultures : lessons from Freud / Joseph Bulbulia
Piaget on moral judgement : towards a reconciliation with nativist and sociocultural approaches / Gordon Ingram
Building on William James : the role of learning in religious experience / Tanya M. Luhrmann
Explaining religious concepts : Lévi-Strauss the brilliant and problematic ancestor / Pascal Boyer
The meaningful brain : Clifford Geertz and the cognitive science of culture / Armin W. Geertz
Cognitive science and religious thought : the case of psychological interiority in the Analects / Edward Slingerland
Conclusion : moving towards a new science of religion; or, have we already arrived? / Luther H. Martin and Ilkka Pyysiäinen

Why is the set of human beliefs and behaviours that we call "religion" such a widespread feature of all known human societies, past and present, and why are there so many forms of religiosity found throughout history and culture? "Mental Culture" brings together an international range of scholars to answer these questions